In Spite Of It All
by Sunee
Summary: Chapter 11 is up! Shuichi starts out on a bad day and it only gets worse....well what would you do if you found Ryuichi Sakuma tied up on a bed? Please read AND review.
1. When Doves Cry

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"_They can feel the heat, the heat between me and you. How can you just leave me standing? Alone in a world that's so cold." – When Doves Cry, Prince _

**In Spite Of It All**

When Doves Cry

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"Shuichi"

"Hmm…"

"Would you hold my hand?"

"Yes, Ryuichi, give me your hand."

"You know, it really hurt, Shuichi."

"I know. Don't worry, help will be here soon."

"I believe in you Shuichi, because doves always soar above chaos."

"Shh… I know."

You may be wondering about this conversation. It was a complicated thing, but I will tell you what happened. Please consider that all parties involved had their own reasons and judge none too harshly. Now, I shall tell you the story of the doves.

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It starts with Shuichi and although this will take a while, it ends with him too. He was on the way to NG studios as usual and was late, as usual. He rushed into the building and up the stairs foregoing the elevator. When he reached the room he slowly opened the door. He peaked his reluctant head through only to find K's gun in his face.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! It was Yuki's fault!" Shuichi lied. Everyone knew Yuki had nothing to do with it this time, but no one said anything.

"No excuses!" K said in a harsh tone and splattered Shuichi's brains all over the wall behind him, or so he wished. He couldn't very well shoot the lead singer of Bad Luck in the head.

"Shuichi, get to work!" Suguru screamed at him from behind his keyboards.

"I'm going," replied Shuichi hurrying to his microphone.

Their session went relatively slow because Shuichi was feeling particularly sluggish that day. In fact he had been feeling sluggish all week. Ever since…

"Shuichi, you can leave now," K said to him with an odd look on his face. This was because Shuichi was always the last one there and the first to leave.

Shuichi left the room immediately after K said that. He ran and ran until he accidentally bumped into a man on the elevator.

"Oomph"

"Sorry mister," Shuichi apologised.

"It's okay, I wasn't looking where I was going either," the man said.

This voice sounded vaguely familiar to Shuichi. A sudden realisation hit him.

"Ryuichi," Shuichi gasped, "is that you?"

"Shu-chan? I didn't recognise you," said Ryuichi.

"I didn't change since last time you saw me, Ryu-chan," said Shuichi quizzically. Something was defiantly amiss here. Shuichi couldn't quite place his finger on it yet, but he intended to find out what it was.

"Oh, but you did."

"Right… sorry," Shuichi tried to laugh this new Ryuichi off. Then something in his brain clicked.

"Are you okay?" asked Shuichi.

"Yeah, uh… sure."

"I'm getting off on the next floor," Shuichi said slowly as to gauge his friend's reaction, knowing that Ryuichi usually got off on this floor as well.

"Well, I'll see you around."

And there it was, the proof he was looking for. There was no "Na no da", no smile, no happy waving and most of all, no Kumugoro. This Ryuichi was defiantly an impostor. Shuichi hadn't seen his ever-smiling friend for about a week now and he shows up… like this. Once Shuichi thought about it, Ryu-chan's eyes were a bit different. Shuichi gasped, 'ALIENS!' he thought to himself, or maybe it was out loud. He was outside by now and people were looking at him funny. One group of American tourists in particular, were blatantly staring at him.

He ran to the bus stop about fifty meters down the street. Normally, he would have got one of K's friends to drive him, but he didn't do that for two reasons today; 1) K's friend's were scary and 2) he didn't want to be spotted, not that his bright orange shirt was helping any.

He paid his ￥170 as he got off the bus and walked those back roads that he knew too well for his own comfort. It was now obvious to him that Ryuichi wasn't abducted by aliens so, naturally he made a mental list of people who _seemed_ like aliens and narrowed it down to two people: Seguchi Tohma and Eiri Yuki. Of course the likes of Shuichi would never be welcomed into Seguchi-san's house, which left only Yuki.

Much to his misfortune, Shuichi was not let into Yuki's house anymore. Actually, for the past week he had been staying at Hiro's house, which was awkward in itself because of Ayaka-chan, but it was better than staying with Suguru at any rate.

As Shuichi got off the elevator he prayed to God that his key still worked. _Click._ As the lock turned he silently congratulated himself. He decided that if Yuki was home he would say that he was picking up his belongings, but he wasn't so the pink-haired boy let himself in. He really hoped Yuki wouldn't show up. He also hoped that if he did he would not be sniffing Yuki's underwear. Not that he would ever do a thing like that, only perverts sniffed their lover's undergarments.

"Who am I kidding," Shuichi thought out loud as he walked into Yuki's bedroom, "Of course I would sni-… Ryuichi?"

Shuichi had seen many strange things in his life this however, this topped all of them. Ryu-chan was hog-tied on Eiri Yuki's bed, wearing nothing aside from boxer shorts for ironic dignity, making strange, muffled noises that would have screams if not for gag around his mouth. And the wet things running down his face that Shuichi swore to be tears would be the cherry on top of a thoroughly disturbing day.

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Thanks for reading, please review. We hope you enjoyed it! 3


	2. Aliens Exist

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_Hey mom, there's something  
In the backroom  
I hope it's not the  
Creatures from above  
_-Aliens Exist, Blink 182

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**In Spite Of It All**

Aliens Exist

"I'll explain it later," Ryuichi said quietly through the last of his tears. "I'd just like some help out of here."

"Okay, but we need disguises, you know, just in case," Shuichi said cheekily trying to lighten the mood. He very much liked the idea of going incognito.

For now, payback would come when they picked out Yuki's best Armani suits, put on his finest silk, Hugo Boss ties and matched it with two pairs of his most expensive Mezlan shoes. They both slicked their hair back for a very business look. They finishing touches were the Gucci sunglasses they found and a couple of surgical masks, so that nobody would recognize them. Not even Yuki. They looked at themselves in the mirror, then simultaneously looked at each other and nodded in agreement. Very stylish, even if the suits were a little too baggy. Okay, so they were _a lot_ too baggy.

Since going down the elevator or even the stairs was completely out of the question, they decided to shimmy down the drain pipes. Think James Bond, only with pink hair and no gadgets. Shuichi felt so chivalrous, this was the first time he had ever saved anyone. People were always helping him cope, not the other way around. Once they got down the pole, which was tricky because Yuki lived on the fourth floor and they got scared, they did a couple dive roles for effect and trenched through the bushes. Shuichi lead them down the alley from which he came, to the bus stop he had got off of less than two hours earlier.

Their plan was to go to Ryuichi's house, grab his stuff and bus it to the hotel Shuichi was staying at. Although it seemed simple enough, fate would take an interesting turn for Shuichi.

"We should get off on the stop after this one," warned Ryuichi.

"Okay," Shuichi gave his friend a genuine smile. Thoughts of what Yuki might have done completely vanished as he saw the bastard himself driving with Tohma. Shuichi stared at the car when they were stopped at a red light and on until the announcement on the bus told them it was their stop.

As they were heading towards Ryuichi's apartment Shuichi could not help but think of the car Yuki was driving. He didn't particularly care if Yuki had bought a new car so Shuichi would stop tracking him down, because frankly, he didn't want to do that anymore. But one thing bugged him, the car was red. And it was a Honda. Red Honda and Yuki just didn't mix. Then it dawned on him. That wasn't Yuki's car at all. He felt his heart plummet through his chest. What other liberties had Yuki taken with Ryuichi?

As Ryuichi turned the handle to his apartment and flicked his lights on, it still felt dark. Something was different since last time Shuichi visited. Hold it- when was the last time he'd been here? Oh, right, this was his first time, silly billy. 'Ryu-chan is defiantly hiding something,' Shuichi thought. 'This can't be right.'

As soon as Ryuichi closed the door he disappeared. And two seconds later he reappeared wearing a completely different outfit with a half finished cigarette hanging form his lips. Ryuichi would defiantly be added to his list of suspected aliens.

"You again," stated the alien-Ryuichi.

"You're not Ryuichi," Shuichi said cautiously. "Ryuichi doesn't smoke," although it did look very appealing on him. Then alien-Ryuichi clapped his hands sarcastically and took off his sunglasses.

There were those eyes again.

"Hey-Hey-Hey," the alien said, referring to a popular Japanese trivia show. "You really are incredibly stupid."

Shuichi put his head down in embarrassment. Just because he tended to ignore certain aspects of life –mainly the negative ones- didn't mean he was stupid.

"That's no way to treat a guest, Kazuya," the _real_ Ryuichi said while he was brushing his teeth. His perfect brown hair was up in a bandana and he was wearing a not-to-tight white t-shirt, but he kept the pants on. This was good because the pants looked very becoming on him. But if Shuichi was on him he'd be com- OH SWEET JESUS! What was he thinking? Not only was that a horrible pick-up line, but he was talking about Ryuichi.

'Stop it!' Shuichi mentally slapped himself. 'Now's not the time or place for that.' Then reality actually hit him. Why are there two Ryuichis? Shuichi's theory of aliens just seemed to confirm itself. Ryuichi had defiantly been cloned up in the dark recesses of space.

"Shuichi, are you okay? You're looking rather pale." A green slimy tentacle came slithering up Shuichi's arm.

"Aliens!" Shuichi screamed and fell over.

"Shuichi!" Ryuichi cried in alarm. He jumped over to help his friend up.

"Are you okay?"

"Huh?"

Shuichi looked at Ryuichi. "What?"

"You really do live on another plain of existence don't you?" This came from the alien-Ryuichi's mouth.

"Shut up, Kazuya. This doesn't usually happen, you know. If my friend's identical twin that I never knew existed just came up to me and said 'Hey, you're really stupid,' I'd probably freak out too," retorted Ryuichi.

Shuichi looked at them for a while and started to notice a difference. Alien-Ryuichi-apparently-called-Kazuya had different eyes. In fact, those eyes looked strangely familiar. Wait- wasn't that earlier today? Shuichi looked at normal Ryuichi, then at the alien/clone and said, "I don't get it."

"Oh fucking hell! A four-year-old could get it! Ryuichi, why do you hang around idiots like this?"

"Kazuya, once again, shut UP! He's already been through enough today and so have I. Go run into on-coming traffic!" yelled Ryuichi.

"What the fuck? You've been gone for a week and just come back like everything's okay. And to top it off, you bring this moron with you! UGH!" Kazuya exploded and stormed out of the room.

Ryuichi turned to his confused friend, "Sorry about that; Kazuya is a little defensive when he's worried. I told him I'd be here for dinner last week, but I never showed up." A sad smile appeared on his face.

"Who's Kazuya?" Shuichi asked, still not getting it. He still suspected that the extra terrestrial were behind this one.

"He's my twin brother, basically my best friend and stand in."

"Oh," was the only thing Shuichi managed to get out.

There definitely were some alien activities going on. 'Since when does Ryuichi Sakuma have a twin? Surely, I, his biggest fan, would know about this,' thought Shuichi.

"Yeah, he stands in for me when I want a day off, kind of like a stunt double. He usually does photo shoots. He's more photogenic."

"Well, that's not fair. I want a stunt double!" whined Shuichi.

"Hey, get your asses in here and get some food!" yelled the alien form the kitchen.

Ryuichi stood up and offered a thoroughly jealous Shuichi a hand and the pair proceeded to the kitchen. There had to be some way to get his own stunt double, right? Shuichi decided to figure it out later.

After dinner Shuichi decided to find out more about Kazuya.

"So, Ryuichi's your twin brother?" said Shuichi, just to confirm, because you never know.

"Yes, wasn't that already said?" It was. Shuichi was doing some serious alien look-out though. Kazuya was starting to get tired of how dull Shuichi was.

"And you stand in for him?"

"Yes."

"So, how many times have you seen me when I thought you were your brother?"

"Is that all you care about?" replied Kazuya. "You are a complete dolt. Yes, you've probably met me before, besides earlier today, but I don't care. I was looking for Ryuichi. Have you got it all now?"

"Sensory overload," Shuichi mumbled.

"What?" snapped Kazuya.

"I said sensory overload. It happens a lot. When I met Yuki's brother, Tatsuha. When I met Rage. Oh god, Rage. My life could be a sitcom."

"I love acting!" Ryuichi excitedly joined the conversation.

"My god, this just gets more brainless by the minute, doesn't it? Ryuichi, I will not act for you. It was bad enough to sing for you when you got a soar throat. People do not need to know I exist. I'm to down to earth for this shit. I'm going to be alone." Kazuya said broodingly as he walked casually out of the room.

"Um?"

"He gets that way," mumbled Ryuichi. "He worries that I can't take care of myself. I guess he has a valid reason though, I just got kidnapped, didn't I?"

Shuichi wasn't sure if he was ready to know what happened, so he changed the subject. He put his back on his friends back for comfort. That's what Hiro did when Shuichi was upset.

"I'm going to talk to Alien-Ryuichi," said Shuichi as he stood up.

"Tread lightly," Ryuichi warned. "He's tricky when he's mad na no da."

"I'll be fine."

Shuichi navigated his way down the hall, but had no clue which room was Kazuya's. He didn't want to be rude by just walking in or seem stupid by knocking on every door. He resorted to Marco-Polo.

"Marco!" Shuichi yelled gleefully. He waited a couple seconds for an answer, but none came.

"Marco!" He listened again. Finally he heard "Polo now shut the fuck up."

Shuichi poked his head into the second bedroom in the hall.

"Alien-Ryuichi?"

The room was semi-dark. There was a small lamp on in the corner. There was a bed against the far wall, a dresser by the door, a TV with video games and the last wall had just the closet.

"Nice room," said Shuichi.

The walls were plastered with pictures of Nittle Grasper, but not the pictures sold to the public. These were pictures of Ryuichi and Kazuya jamming with Tohma and Noriko. Pictures of parties, good times, Tohma's wedding, and concert dressing rooms. Every single one of them looked happy.

"Nice pictures," Shuichi commented.

"What do you want?" asked Kazuya. He looked slightly defeated. A defeated Ryuichi wasn't good, so Shuichi assumed a defeated Alien-Ryuichi was no good either. But it was just that, an assumption.

"I wanted to apologize for being an idiot," said Shuichi sincerely. "It was just shocking to find out that Ryuichi was a twin. I always thought I knew everything about Nittle Grasper. And Ryuichi Sakuma."

"Well, there's more to him than just the band," stated Kazuya.

"Yeah, I know. I learned that when we competed for songs."

"Look, if all you came to do was talk about your feelings, I'm going to ask you to leave."

"No, wait. I want to be friends. You seem like a good guy and we probably will be seeing a lot of each other, so it would be better not to be enemies. Let's start fresh. I'm Shindou Shuichi." He said holding out his hand.

Kazuya paused to consider this before taking Shuichi's hand. If Ryuichi was friends with him, why not at least try?

"I'm Sakuma Kazuya."

"Nice to meet you," replied Shuichi. "Now stop moping Sakuma-san. I want cake!"

Shuichi bounced once on Kazuya's bed, grabbed his wrist then began to literally drag him into the kitchen. And, in spite of it all, Kazuya smiled.

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Thanks for reading! Please review and tell us how it is.

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	3. Crush

_A/N: Please review! We're dying to know what you think of this story. _

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_It's just a little crush  
Not like I faint every time we touch  
It's just some little thing  
Not like everything I do, depends on you_

-Crush, Jennifer Paige

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**In Spite Of It All**

Crush

After cake they all decided to go to the hotel that Shuichi was staying at, but them Ryuichi remembered he had to go to a signing.

"Well, let me get changed and pack some clothed, then we'll go to you house, na no da!" Ryuichi said gleefully.

"Okay," Shuichi agreed. "I'll just wait over here."

He went and sat on the couch while Ryuichi and his alien brother were getting ready. It was silently assumed by Shuichi that Kazuya would go to the signing and Ryuichi would go with Shuichi to the hotel. It was a shame because Kazuya was really pretty. Shuichi knew that his twin brother was a good friend of his, but they had their differences. Kazuya's eyes were the dead give-away, except Shuichi noticed that Kazuya had a slightly slimmer build. This was probably because of all that American food Ryuichi had been eating when the singer-turned-actor made a movie there.

"Finished!" sang Ryuichi. "Let's go!"

The other twin walked out of the room he had entered earlier. Shuichi noticed something; both were wearing sunglasses. This formed a sort of problem, but he trusted Ryuichi.

Shuichi helped his friend with his bags. There were only a couple, so it wasn't that hard. Shuichi was still wearing _his_ suit, but Ryuichi had changed into a "tacky tourist" outfit. You know, with the shades, Hawaiian print shirt, khaki shorts and of course, sandals with socks.

Once they got into the hotel room, Shuichi decided he should start looking for a real place. Since it was a hotel, there were only two rooms; the sleeping room and the bathroom. There were two beds which came as a sort of relief to Shuichi. The pair each took their own bed and collapsed onto it.

Once they had relaxed a little, Ryuichi took off his sunglasses. Those eyes.

"You aren't Ryuichi," Shuichi said to himself more than anyone else.

"Look, I don't want to have to go through this conversation again," Kazuya said in a harsh tone. "Ryuichi just got back form America. His movie is very popular and people want autographs. It was would be rude of me to go and sign for him, wouldn't it?"

He made a good point.

"Plus he'll be coming back here tomorrow morning," he added.

Yes, his eyes were defiantly deeper that Ryuichi's and somehow sexier. They were and attractive chocolate brown. Now that Shuichi thought about it his lips were defiantly fuller. Very kissable. If he could just- WHAT THE HELL? This was RYUICHI SAKUMA'S twin brother! He couldn't do that to his friend, let alone his idol.

"Stop staring at me."

Oh shit. Shuichi looked away immediately. He didn't mean to look at the alien like that. He _was_ an alien after all. It wasn't his fault he was mildly attractive. Shuichi blushed. Maybe _mild_ was an understatement. Maybe Kazuya was really so-hot-he-could-look-at-water-and-make-it-boil-not-to-mention-the-hard-on-Shuichi-had-on-the-bus-or-the-way-he-looked-at-Shuichi-like-there-was-_somehting_-there-or-that-he-was-the-hottest-extra-terrestrial-ever-andall-Shuichi-wanted-to-do-right-now-was-take-him-in-the-back-room-with-about-four-litres-of-chocolate-sauce-and-a-bucket-of-ice-cubes-for-some-sweet-alien-lovin' type of attractive. Maybe that was over going it a little. Maybe he should think about something else before a certain part of his body would be _over doing it a little._

"Do you want some dinner?" Shuichi asked trying to sound as innocent as possible.

"Sure," Kazuya replied. "I'm starving. What are you making?"

"What do you want?"

"Curry."

"Sounds good. Let's go."

"We're in a hotel. There isn't exactly a kitchen right here, but there's a restraint downstairs. I'll pay."

"Sounds like a date to me."

Shuichi blushed, "It's not! It's just that, you know you're staying here. I mean, that makes you my guest, of sorts and before we go: CHANGE! I'm not letting you out in public with that outfit on." Kazuya was still sporting the tacky tourist look.

"Whatever."

It was official. The best alien award went to Kazuya and it was driving Shuichi nuts. That was saying something too, because the other two aliens (Yuki and Tohma) were not bad looking themselves. So as you can see, it wasn't easy to get the award.

When Kazuya came out he was wearing a pair of dark wash jeans and a long-sleeve shirt that said something in English on it. Somehow this looked terrifyingly delicious on him.

"Shall we?"

"Let's."

By this time it was around seven o'clock. Why was this restraunt so… romantic? This was supposed to be a hotel! Hotels aren't romantic! Kazuya was right, it did seem like a date, but Shuichi shouldn't be going on dates because he didn't think getting over Yuki would be that easy. Not that Shuichi wasn't still mad at him, he was livid. He was just over him in the romantical scheme of things.

The waiter approached them with water and menus. Kazuya didn't even look at his. Shuichi looked for a couple of minutes and decided after a long day he wanted yakitori, rice and beer.

After dinner Shuichi flicked on the TV and sat on one of the beds. There wasn't anything on, so he put on the music channel and closed his eyes. It was Utada Hikaru. She was becoming very popular now, and she had the voice to back it up too. She was one artist Shuichi would never admit to liking ever in a million years. He had a reputation to keep up.

"So, you like Utada?"

"No." Yes.

"You know you're in my bed right?"

"Uh…" Yes, I am quite aware of that.

"Are you getting out anytime soon?"

"…" No.

"Well, I'll just have to make you get out!"

"No! You're bigger and scarier!" But very sexy.

"Point?"

"Have mercy?"

Kazuya jumped on the bed and hit Shuichi hard with a pillow. He retaliated by giving Kazuya a huge alien wedgey. The two men –if you could call them that- got tangled in a mess of limbs as both tried to take charge of the bed. Suddenly, a punch was thrown.

"OW!" cried Kazuya.

"Just kidding," Shuichi said sheepishly.

"Say that you're sorry!"

"Sorry," Shuichi said without much feeling at all.

"Like you mean it!"

"I'm very sorry Kazuya."

"Now, kiss it better."

"But I hit you in the mouth!"

"You heard what I said," Kazuya said fiercely. He could be scary when he wanted to. Shuichi collected his breath, 'Be still my beating heart,' he thought to himself. He leaned forward and closed his eyes. Then… SMACK!

"Owie! That was my face!"

"Now you know how it feels," Kazuya said stubbornly. "I can't believe you feel for that! HAHAHA!"

"I'm not talking to you anymore," said Shuichi childishly. He turned off the TV and the lights and climbed into his own bed.

"I win," he heard a proud voice come from the bed beside him.

"…" Bastard.

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Shuichi woke up the next morning to Ryuichi shaking him rather violently.

"Shuichi! Wake up!"

"Uhnnnn," Shuichi groaned.

"Come on, Kumugoro and I want breakfast," whined Ryuichi.

"Noooo, I sleep," mumbled Shuichi.

Shuichi could hear some whispering, but tried his best to ignore it. He was just about asleep when he heard:

"TAG TEAM!" Ryuichi and Kazuya jumped on him. Shuichi lost all ability to breathe. He grabbed on to someone, but still managed to fall off the bed.

"Ouch!" he yelped.

He looked to see who he had grabbed and found Kazuya on top of him.

"Sor- sorry Kazuya," Shuichi mumbled and blushed wildly. Luckily, most of his face was covered in blankets and no one noticed.

Kazuya stood up and offered him a hand.

"Let's go get breakfast na no da!" exclaimed Ryuichi as he hopped to the door with Kumugoro.

"Okay, I just have to get dressed first," said Shuichi who was still sleepy despite the rough wake up call.

Ten minutes later they were having breakfast in the restaurant.

"Shuichi, I'm sorry I didn't come yesterday," said Ryuichi with a mouthful of eggs. "But Kumugoro was tired after the signing, so I went home."

"That's okay Ryu-chan. There wasn't enough space in the hotel room anyways. I mean there are only two beds," explained Shuichi.

"Yeah, well Kazuya and I would've shared a bed." Shuichi began to choke on his pancakes.

"Are you okay Shuichi?" Kazuya asked.

"Yep," Shuichi managed weakly. Luckily, his choking covered the fact that he was blushing and the table cloth covered the tent that decided to erect itself in his pants. Shuichi silently cursed himself. One twin in chocolate sauce is good enough, you don't need two.

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After breakfast Shuichi was starting to think he needed a real apartment. So he picked up a newspaper and circled some possible places.

By the end of the day he had visited three apartments. Two that could actually work and one that definitely couldn't because he when he phoned his voice was immediately recognised (creepy) and his ears were violated with the sounds of shrieking fan girls. That is why you always phone in advance, kids.

When he got back to the hotel room he just wanted to sleep, but instead found two members of his Alien List drinking Vanilla Twist Vodka. ☆yum☆

"Shuichi!" Ryuichi yelled in delight. "Come join us. We got PIZZA!"

Shuichi closed the door to the room so the drunken twins didn't get them kicked out. As he was walking across the floor he stepped on at least two beer cans, so he figured they had been drinking for a while.

"Um," Shuichi hesitated. What he really wanted to do was sleep, but the amount of sound coming from the other two was going to prohibit that from happening. He decided on having a drink or two because, hell, he deserved one after being bombarded by those creepy stalker girls.

Ryuichi was wearing a pair of tight fitting jeans, a loose button shirt that was slightly undone and, as usual, and a bandana in his hair.

Kazuya on the other hand was wearing a pair of baggy cargo pants, a tight fitting t-shirt and no bandana. The shirt was really horrible, in Shuichi's opinion, and should probably come off. _Bad Shuichi_, he thought. _Stop these dirty, provoking things from popping into your gutter of a brain. _

"Pass me a drink!" Shuichi cried merrily.

Half an hour later Shuichi was feeling pretty tipsy. He had had to play the "catch up game" because the twins started drinking about an hour earlier than him. Maybe if he wasn't in love with vodka or if he wasn't a light-weight he wouldn't be feeling so warm and fuzzy. He needed a hug form a hot boy, or a drink.

"Ryuichi, pass me another drink," Shuichi demanded trying as best he could not to slur his words together.

"You are so drunk," Kazuya said in shock at Shuichi, while he was clearly not all that sober himself.

"Hey, man. So are you," Shuichi pointed out while stumbling over toward Ryuichi for his next drink.

"Here you are."

"Thank you," Shuichi said with a huge grin plastered all over his face.

"I'm …uh... going to bed now," Ryuichi managed to get out. "You guys make your own drinks." And he flopped all over one of the beds.

"Well, I guess it's just us now," Kazuya pointed out. "And as it is so, you must share your drink with me. I am completely inept at mixing a good drink."

"Okay. Here." Kazuya took the drink and drank half of it.

"Your turn. Drink the rest. Let's get plastered!" _Bottoms up_, Shuichi thought, and downed the remainder of the drink.

Another forty-five minutes later they were playing rock-paper-scissors for shots.

"This is the last shot. After this let's play…um…. Ah, never mind, lost it," Kazuya said.

They stood up, yelled out "ROCK PAPER SCISSORS!" and just as Shuichi's rock shattered Kazuya's scissors, Shuichi fell over. They landed on the floor in a big drunken heap. That's when Shuichi realised he was right on top of Kazuya.

"Whoa, that was not expected," Kazuya said rubbing the back of his head. "Hey, you look different form this angle."

Shuichi batted his eyelashes. "Aren't I sexy?" And that's when it happened. Kazuya lifted his head and just as he was about to kiss Shuichi, he passed out cold.

Shuichi decided that looks are deceiving when he was dragging Kazuya onto the bed and rolling him on his side (as to protect him from all the adventures that could ensue if he threw up_). Damn, he sure is heavy. Reminder to self: pass out first next time as taking care of drunken fools is no fun at all._

After that was settled, Shuichi put himself to bed and almost immediately fell into a dreamless sleep. If he weren't so drunk, he would have been laying awake in bed wondering what just happened. But he was drunk and slept right beside Kazuya in the same bed, in spite of it all.

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Thank again for reading. Review or I'll... um... think about something to do to you... it'll be evil too. Mwahahaha! Runs away 


	4. Within You

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A/N: Sorry for not updating for so long. We are le busy. Enjoy and please review. Flame if you must.

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_Everything I've done,  
I've done for you.  
I move the stars for no one. _

You've run so long.  
You've run so far.  
Your eyes can be so cruel,  
Just as I can be so cruel,  
_-Within You, David Bowie_

**

* * *

**

**In Spite Of It All**

Within you

When Shuichi woke up in the morning realised there was someone else in the bed. He tried to detangle himself, but it would be impossible without waking up the other person. He decided to wait a bit longer. While he was lying in his bed, he tried to remember what happened the night before. _Damn, you were wasted last night_, he thought to himself.

"Mmm…"

_Good, he's awake_, Shuichi thought.

"Sorry to whoever I'm sleeping on," Shuichi heard the voice coming from on top of him. He rolled over only to see Kazuya. It wasn't exactly who he was expecting.

"Uh, it's okay." It was most defiantly okay. _Crap! Stop thinking_, Shuichi berated himself. Despite Shuichi wanting to stay there all day, he really thought it wasn't a good idea. But, alas, Kazuya was back asleep. Crap.

When Kazuya finally woke up, he noticed Shuichi was gone. He wasn't just out of the bed; he wasn't even in the hotel room. Bummer. Kazuya was looking forward to seeing Shuichi, or rather the look on his face when he woke up. He questioned his brother as to Shuichi's whereabouts. Apparently he was out getting an apartment. They would all be moving to the apartment tomorrow night.

About an hour later Shuichi arrived at the hotel room. He quickly changed his clothes and they all agreed to go out for lunch and shopping.

"Where are we going for lunch?" Shuichi asked.

"MISTER DONUTS!" replied Ryuichi enthusiastically.

The trio decided to walk since the hotel they were staying was only 10 blocks away from a Mister Donuts. It seemed pointless to hail a taxi.

"Ugh, that took a lot longer than I thought it would," said Kazuya. "Sorry guys."

"You get to pay for us now," said Ryuichi innocently.

"No!"

"Please," Ryuichi begged. As if on queue he and Shuichi dad their best puppy dog faces. This was more than Kazuya was prepared to handle, so he paid. That didn't stop him form complaining though.

"One thing I don't understand is, how two incredibly wealthy ROCK STARS cannot pay ￥1000 for lunch. That's what I don't get," Kazuya said sarcastically.

"I left my wallet at home. And besides, you're my brother. Do you know how many times I've done this for you?" Ryuichi replied with a mouthful of donut.

"I just thought since it'd be nice to have you pay for lunch today since I paid for dinner last night," Shuichi reasoned.

"Point taken."

"Where do you guys want to go shopping first?" Shuichi asked.

"TOKYO DISNEY LAND!" replied Ryuichi, of course.

"No," both Shuichi and Kazuya said in unison. They each had their own reasons for the answer they gave. Kazuya had no intention of paying and the last time Shuichi was at Disney Land he was with Yuki.

"How about Virgin Records then?"

"Done."

Shuichi looked at some records he really liked and then some that he didn't. He actually only looked at them because Kazuya told him he listened to crappy music. After an hour or so they gave up the music store because Shuichi wanted to leave and was complaining non-stop. Ryuichi ended up buying an Orange Range CD when no one was looking. _Hey, everyone has their guilty pleasures, right?_ thought Ryuichi. _I bet even Shuichi does. HAH! Yeah, right. Shuichi busting out to Utada Hikaru? That'll be the day._

* * *

The day had finally come for Shuichi to move into his apartment. He wasn't too sure why the Sakano twins were coming with him, but since he had a couple of weeks off of work, it didn't hurt to have company. Plus, it was better to have one of the gorgeous Sakano brothers to wake up to than to have K shooting him point blank every morning. 

It wasn't his fault Yuki kept him up all night long. Yuki… not someone Shuichi was particularly comfortable with thinking about right now. He decided to put on his favourite movie to help get these thoughts aside.

"Hey guys, wanna watch a movie?" Shuichi asked his guests. He just assumed they were guests because they actually had a house to go back to. But it somehow seemed appropriate that they were coming to stay for a while. This whole situation with Yuki was odd. And there they were again; thoughts of Yuki. Surely the movie would take his mind off things.

"Yeah sure, let me get my coat we can catch a taxi up to the theatre," Ryuichi said from the couch.

"No, I was wondering if we could stay here and watch the movie."

"Oh, okay. I'll go get a couple of blankets and pillows. You can get popcorn!" Ryuichi was very enthusiastic about this idea. "Put extra butter on it!"

As he skipped off to find some blankets amongst the mess of stuff they stole form the hotel, Shuichi ran to the kitchen. He didn't really want popcorn so he only made one bag. He turned around to grab some pocky form the table (he hadn't bothered to put much in the cupboards yet) and he found Kazuya right in his face. He didn't mind the concept of it, but he hadn't been expecting this and yelped like a little girl. After making sure what little dignity he had left was in tact he asked, "What gives?"

"Do you want the TV and DVD player set up?" Kazuya asked a little coldly.

"Um, actually could you set up the VCR? There's a specific movie I wanted to watch?"

"And that was?"

"Labyrinth," to this Shuichi got a puzzled look, so he said, "It's an old movie with David Bowie."

"Nice."

After a good half an hour they were all settled in and the movie was on. Jareth had just walked in and was talking to Sarah. Shuichi couldn't help but notice the similarities between their relationship and his own, with Yuki. Jareth was asking for Sarah's free will. Sarah basically told him to stuff it. Jareth, in his own words, tells her that he doesn't care. Throughout the movie, even though Jareth tries to per sway Sarah to love him, even she never will. The ending conversation between the two predominantly reminded him of himself and Yuki. He was trying his best to pay attention, but he was so close to falling asleep.

Jareth: Just let me rule you Sarah and I will be your slave.

Sarah: You have no power over me.

With that Shuichi fell asleep.

_

* * *

"Yuki, why are you always so cruel?" Shuichi whimpered. It always bothered him when he was this mean. He acted like Shuichi didn't mean anything to him. _

_"I don't like you," Yuki growled._

_"Yuki, we've been together for four years now. You can't tell me you don't like me when I've heard you tell me you love me so many times before."_

_"Well, I can act Shuichi," Yuki said quietly._

_"I don't get what…" Shuichi stumbled over his words as he started to realise what Yuki truly meant, "you… m-mean," Shuichi trailed off. It actually clicked in after a few moments. His mind started to reel. _

_"You can act," Shuichi stated faintly, mostly to himself. "You fucking bastard," he whispered. _

_"What, does it finally make sense?" Yuki stared at him, smiling slightly._

_"I can't believe you!" Shuichi's voice grew louder. "I can't believe that all of this time everything we've done together, has been an act! No one's that good."_

_"You don't believe me?" Yuki asked cruelly. "You think I've been with you all of this time because I 'love' you? Ha! You know Shuichi, you're pretty funny. I can't believe you fell for it. You want to know the truth? I have been with you all this time because you've been good for publicity."_

_"You're lying," mumbles Shuichi in disbelief. Tears were now forming in his eyes._

_Yuki looked at him. "Want to see? Want to see what I can do?"_

_Yuki then proceeded to show Shuichi a range of emotions. He went through love, happiness, sadness, depression, joy, confusion, nothingness, tiredness, exasperation, concentration and even hate._

_"There, now you get it. I don't love you. I can't believe you thought I did! You were a great means for publicity though. Do you know how many more books I sold after I 'came out of the closet'? At least three times as many as before. It adds a new appeal," Yuki said blatantly, ripping through Shuichi's heart._

_"Fine," Shuichi mumbled. Despite the fact that his eyes were glazed with tears, they didn't fall. "Then I'll leave. You don't need me. I don't need you. I can live on my own. I'm sorry I ever thought I loved you."_

_Shuichi left the room. He grabbed a bag and began to fill it. Once he had most of clothes and a few other belongings he proceeded to leave. He walked through the living room where Yuki sat smoking a cigarette. Yuki looked calm and unconcerned._

_Shuichi didn't say anything. He grabbed his coat and put his hand to the door knob. He glanced one last time at Yuki who he had loved to no end. Yuki looked back at Shuichi who was staring at him form the doorway. For a second, Shuichi thought he saw a glimpse of that love that Yuki said didn't exist, in his eyes. It was quickly eclipsed by a cloud of smoke when Yuki exhaled the cigarette smoke form his lungs. Shuichi shook his head and walked out of the door._

* * *

Shuichi woke feeling strangely warm and comfortable despite the dream he had. He turned his head slightly and realized he was no longer on the couch. He could feel and see a warm flesh coloured blanket on him. That's when it hit him that Ryuichi and Kazuya had moved him to his bed and then taken the liberty of keeping him company. 

Shuichi blushed as he could feel a leg between him own and an arm on his chest. He was defiantly tangled and had no hope of getting up without waking both of them. He decided to snuggle in and just watch them sleep. Being that they were twins he couldn't tell which one was which when they were asleep. With nothing to do but think, Shuichi began to reflect on his dream. It wasn't really a dream, but more of a nightmare or a flashback. One that brought him to his present situation. He hated Yuki for toying with him for the past four years, but he had his suspicions that maybe it was all a lie. He didn't have solid proof, but it was something he saw in his eyes that day that didn't reciprocate in his words. In that case, what to believe? He continued to think until one of the twins woke up. Shuichi still wasn't sure who had woken up, but he was about to find out.

* * *

Thanks for reading! And especially to those who review. We really appreciate it! 


	5. Insensitive

**A/N:** Big thanks to NaviKun, kuma-chan, pikapikaryuchan, and To-think-of-a-nice-name for the reviews! Very much appreciated.  


_

* * *

_

Oh, you probably won't remember me  
it's probably ancient history  
I'm one of the chosen few  
who went ahead and fell for you  
I'm out of vogue, I'm out of touch  
I fell too fast, I feel too much

_-Insensitive, Jann Arden  
_

**

* * *

**

In Spite Of It All

Insensitive

"Good morning," said a voice from the bottom corner of the bed. Shuichi lifted his head to see which twin had awakened. His eyes met deep brown ones. He gasped at the intensity of the stare.

"I said good morning," mumbled Kazuya.

"M-morning," Shuichi almost swallowed his tongue.

"Oh, me and Ryu-chan brought you to bed last night. You fell asleep on the couch," Kazuya stated.

"Um, thanks," Shuichi mumbled, slightly embarrassed.

"No problem," Kazuya replied good naturedly. "Now, how to get out?"

Shuichi blushed and purposely extracted himself form the mess of legs and arms. He heard Ryuichi hit the floor, but just kept walking to the bathroom.

"What's up his ass?" Kazuya mumbled.

Ryuichi only gave a sleepy, "Nani?"

Shuichi sat in the bathroom trying to rid himself of the bad mood he was in. His dream was still in the forefront of his mind. No matter what he did Yuki seemed to haunt his life. He was holding back tears when a knock resounded on the door.

"Shu-chan! I need to pee!" yelled Ryuichi form the opposite side of the door. Shuichi opened the door roughly and stalked out, almost knocking over Ryuichi.

"What's his problem?" mumbled Ryuichi.

Later on, Kazuya suggested that they go out for lunch. They headed for a restaurant just down the road. It was small and not a lot of people went to it, so it was top choice for the trio. As per the usual Kazuya and Ryuichi, they disguised themselves so no one would recognize them. Shuichi, on the other hand, just didn't bother.

Kazuya watched Shuichi throughout the meal. Shuichi didn't eat breakfast and was only picking at his lunch. When the waiter came to take his plate, he didn't say thank you and refused to pay the bill. Ryuichi seemed oblivious to Shuichi's new disposition.

They left the restaurant and were going to buy some new stuff for Shuichi's apartment to make it more liveable but Shuichi didn't seem the least bit interested.

"Why not?" whined Ryuichi.

"I don't feel like it, okay?" snapped Shuichi. Ryuichi continued to pout as they walked by the store they were supposed to go in.

"Well, why don't we go back to your place then?" suggested Kazuya. "We can play that new game I brought over."

"Whatever," mumbled Shuichi and continued in silence all the way to his apartment.

When they got to the apartment, Shuichi went directly to his bedroom, leaving Kazuya and Ryuichi by the front door.

"Kazuya, I want to play Dead or Alive 2. Please can we play it?" begged Ryuichi.

"Here," Kazuya roughly shoved at his brother. "Just take it." Ryuichi stared at Kazuya for a bit, and then remembered his game.

Kazuya went to Shuichi's room and tried the door. It was locked.

"Shuichi?" Kazuya said as he knocked lightly. "I know you're in there." No reply.

"Shuichi?" Still no answer. "Please open the door," Kazuya said, starting to get a bit worried. Clearly Shuichi was better at ignoring people than Kazuya once thought.

Kazuya walked to the kitchen and started searching for something long and thin to open the door with. He searched through all the drawers and found nothing. He looked though the cupboards and still found nothing. He started to look in the living room.

"Watcha lookin' for?" asked Ryuichi in a childish way.

"Something long and thin," explained Kazuya as he searched the pencil holder.

"Why?"

"Need it for Shuichi," Kazuya mumbled still rummaging.

"Are you going to kill him!" asked Ryuichi in horror. Kazuya turned around and stared at his brother.

"You're an idiot."

"I am not you jerk face!" retorted Ryuichi.

"Retard."

"Jackass."

"Asshole."

"Pussy."

"Hey, that one hurt, Ryuichi," gasped Kazuya in mock pain.

"Go die."

"Oh yeah?" challenged Kazuya.

"Yeah!" cried Ryuichi.

"That's it," Kazuya got into a ninja stance while Ryuichi tried one form the floor. They went at each other and proceeded to sissy fight.

When they were done Ryuichi was on the floor trying to breathe while laughing hysterically. Kazuya was sitting on top of Ryuichi trying, with out success, to breathe while laughing as well.

"You're heavy. I can't breathe. Get off, fat ass," Ryuichi managed to choke out.

Kazuya laughed and stated, "I win!"

When Ryuichi has restored his breathing to normal, he was able to ask why he needed the long, thin thing.

"Because Shuichi locked himself in his room and I need the other controller," lied Kazuya.

"Oh, okay," agreed Ryuichi. "Grab a coat hanger and cut it."

Kazuya found a coat hanger in the closet. When all was ready he jimmied the door open. He slowly pushed it forward and found Shuichi face down on the bed.

"Shuichi, you okay?" Kazuya asked, but still got no reply even though he was in the room. He moved over to the bed and sat down. Shuichi buried his face further into the blankets.

"Shuichi, what's wrong?" asked Kazuya. He placed a hand on Shuichi's shoulder.

"Leave me alone," mumbled Shuichi into his bed.

"No," stated Kazuya flatly. "You've been rude all day and I want to know why."

"It's none of your business."

"It is when the person you're being rude to is me," replied Kazuya. Shuichi just lay silently in his nest of blankets and pillows. "Fine, be that way. I'm going to leave now. You obviously don't need your friends," snapped Kazuya getting just a teensy bit annoyed. He got up to leave the room.

"Kazuya, I'm sorry," said Shuichi still face down on the bed. "I j-just hate myself right now," he stammered.

Kazuya returned to the bed and sat down. "Why would you hate yourself?"

Shuichi raised his head and Kazuya could see that his eyes were red from crying. "I let myself be sucked into a lie."

"Huh?"

"Yuki. All the time we were together, it was a lie. I meant nothing to him all that time. He used me and dumped me as soon as he was done with what he needed. Now you know," Shuichi finished his mini-speech off in a harsh tone. Promptly he got up and hurried to the bathroom.

As soon as he made sure his eyes were no longer red, he walked out the living room and noticed Ryuichi, who was playing Dead or Alive 2.

"Good game. Let me get my other controller and I'll be right out. I'm going to kick your ass."

"Is that a challenge?" asked Ryuichi with a smirk on his face.

_Several Hours Later_

"And I'm ripping your head off," stated Shuichi like it was an everyday occurrence. "Look, I'm taking your head and smashing it on the ground."

"Owned," said Kazuya to Ryuichi.

"Not fair! I just bought this last week," whined Ryuichi. "I didn't get a chance to play it on account of… Yu…ki…" he trailed off.

"Don't finish that sentence," Shuichi said in a threatening tone. He stormed out of the room and plopped down on his bed. Why did everything remind him of Yuki today? He was fine before, wasn't he? He just wanted to forget. _Damn, he thought, even the clothes in wearing remind me of Yuki. I need to get changed. _Shuichi walked to his closet and stared at his clothes with grim determination. He went through all of his clothing articles and was disappointed to find out that they all reminded him of Yuki.

Just then Kazuya walked in to see if Shuichi was okay. Ryuichi seemed to be leaving all of the comforting up to him today.

Do you have any clothes I can borrow?" Kazuya gave Shuichi an odd look.

"Um, yes. Why?"

"Your clothes are better," Shuichi said realising that he wasn't explaining anything at all.

"Alright," Kazuya said slowly. "You sure are in a chipper mood all of a sudden." For this remark Kazuya got a scowl from Shuichi. "Never mind. Forget I said anything."

After Shuichi changed into jeans and a t-shirt (that smelled distinctly like Kazuya) he went to the store to but the only food that didn't make him cry – chocolate-melon bread!

Shuichi skipped back to the apartment with a bag full of choco-melon bread fir everyone. On his way back though, he paused at an electronics store. On the televisions on display was Yuki.

_"My partner, Shuichi, recently broke up with me. It was very hard for me. I'm still broken hearted," Yuki fed his sob-story to a reporter. _

Shuichi ran the rest of the way home crying. He slammed the door to his apartment shut with such a force that it probably shook the whole building. Not that Shuichi cared. Throwing the bread on the floor, he threw himself onto his bed. Why did he have to see that today of all days? Why not next week, when he could actually handle it?

He sobbed into his pillow wondering if the pain would ever go away when Kazuya walking in, once again wondering if he was okay. Ryuichi was being damned persistent about Kazuya checking up on Shuichi today. He sat down next to Shuichi and put an arm around him. Without warning Shuichi threw himself around Kazuya and continued to cry. Slowly and cautiously Kazuya put his arms around Shuichi's waist and began to rub his back.

"It hurts so bad, Kazuya. And now all of Japan knows. I just want to go into a hole and die."

"It'll get better soon. Ryuichi and I are here for you." With that he placed a reassuring kiss on Shuichi's forehead and rested his chin on Shuichi's head. They stayed that way for hours until Shuichi drifted off into a deep sleep.

Ryuichi was getting a little lonely, so he decided to see what was up with Shuichi. He poked his head in just in time to here Kazuya say, "Ryuichi and I are here for you." As Kazuya kissed Shuichi on the forehead Ryuichi smiled and went back to the living room.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for reading. Review please. Flame if you must. 


	6. No Sleep Tonight

**A/n: Sorry for the long wait! So sorry. Please forgive us. -hands out cookies- Umm, so, I hope you like the chapter. Please review! We would appreciate it very much. **

**

* * *

**

_I got you, I got you on my mind  
And it's time to make you see (what I want)  
So i'll just make this a little more obvious  
Cuz I get what I want, and I want you to get with me!_

_-The Faders, No Sleep Tonight

* * *

_

**Inspite of it all**

**No sleep tonight

* * *

**

Shuichi decided to go to sleep for the rest of the day. When he woke up, there was again two other people in his bed, but today he was warm and comfortable. He decided lay and relax while the twins slept. Shuichi's thoughts started to wander to a sketchy area of his brain. This was the part where sex was the main concern.

He tried desperately not to think of either body touching him – and there was a lot of body touching him- but it became increasingly hard. Speaking of hard... Shuichi decided that NOW was an opportune time to get out of the bed before things got… noticed. He quickly dislodged himself and ran for the bathroom

"Not again," mumbled Kazuya.

Kazuya got up, stepped over Ryuichi, who was sprawled over the floor again, and rapped on the bathroom door.

"Shuichi, are you okay?" asked Kazuya, who was once again on the wrong side of the door.

"I'm fine," replied Shuichi. "I just couldn't hold it in anymore. The pee! I mean that I had to take a pee and I couldn't hold it in."

"Oh," Kazuya said in an embarrassed tone. "Okay." He headed to the kitchen to make breakfast. Kazuya heard the sound of the shower running and decided to start cooking.

When Shuichi entered the kitchen, his hair was still slightly dripping. He was wearing a pair of jeans, that moulded to him well and a plain white t-shirt. Kazuya was thinking that Shuichi was the only one that could pull off this potentially boring outfit. He looked stunning whereas anyone else would look boring.

Kazuya shook his head. This was Shuichi and _he _was a _guy_.

Kazuya ate breakfast quietly. He tried hard not to look at Shuichi. Ryuichi was the one who looked at other guys. It had always been that way. Ryuichi partied hard and lived fast. Kazuya did the same… sometimes. One difference – he liked girls. On the other hand, Shuichi was very feminine. And those jeans clung to him in all the right places. NO! They did not! Wait. Since when did Shuichi have _right places_?

Just then, Shuichi walked up to him and put his hands on Kazuya's shoulders. Kazuya was just this side of mortified. He almost slammed his face into his bowl of cereal when Shuichi said, "Hey, Kazuya! You're looking pretty good today. That outfit looks great on you." Then he winked and walked away.

As Shuichi meandered out of the room Kazuya couldn't help nut notice how Shuichi's hips when he did. _Okay, that was wrong,_ thought Kazuya. _Hips are connected to the buttocks. And thinking about another guys' ass is BAD.

* * *

_

"He's so cute!" Shuichi shouted at the top of his lungs to his best friend, Hiro.

"He looks exactly like Ryuichi, though. Isn't that a bit awkward?" questioned Suguru.

"No! And it's none of your business anyways! I wouldn't be surprised if you were asexual! At least I have a sex life even if it is with an alien!" After this was said there was an awkward silence.

"You've had sex with him?" Hiro broke the silence. Suguru took this time to leave... quickly.

"Technically, no."

"What have you _technically_ done with him?"

"Technically? Nothing."

* * *

When Shuichi got home he found that he was quite alone. This hadn't been happening lately, so he took advantage of his situation by turning on loud music, singing well and dancing horrendously. His job was putting on loud music and singing, but the dancing bit was a rare commodity. So was the music. Utada Hikaru did not usually get turned on in the house.

Right when Shuichi started to bust out his dance skills, (which were few and very womanly) Kazuya walked in yelling in anguish.

"Ryuichi Sakuma! Turn this crap off! How many times do I - Shuichi?"

"Uh," Was all that came out, but _oh shit_ was actually his first thought. Embarrassment stopped him from making any sound that linked back to intelligence. All that came out for about thirty seconds were um's and er's.

"Sorry," FINALLY, Shuichi cursed himself for taking so long to answer. After a particularly long period of silence Kazuya spontaneously burst out into a fit of uncontrolled laughter.

After he calmed down a bit he mumbled something about rock stars and weirdoes. Just as he was walking away, Shuichi decided to make Kazuya uncomfortable.

Since music was still playing, Shuichi thought it would be fun to dance with Kazuya. He started to grind his hips against Kazuya.

"Gahh!" Kazuya shrieked and jumped away form Shuichi.

Shuichi looked slightly abashed, but just went on dancing. Kazuya watched him dance for a full three seconds before he decided that Shuichi was very much like Ryuichi; oblivious to everything.

* * *

Ryuichi walked in the door sometime later in the day. He could hear the TV in the living room and the music in the kitchen. Ryuichi headed for the kitchen - there was food there.

"Hey," he said, voice slightly rising over the music. "What's up?"

Shuichi was currently sitting at the table with Kazuya while they inhaled cup noodle.

"Mnoffin'," was the only reply.

Ryuichi grabbed some noodles as well and poured some hot water into them. After he was done filling his cup he took a seat at the table.

"Nice outfit Shuichi. Looks good on you."

"Thanks Ryu-chan," said Shuichi having emptied his mouth.

"Guess what Ryuichi!" Kazuya whispered excitedly.

"What!"

"Guess what I caught Shuichi doing today!"

"Omigod," gasped Ryuichi and stared at Shuichi. "You were masturbating in the bathroom again?"

"What!" burst out Shuichi." "I was not." He turned to Kazuya," I was not masturbating in the bathroom. I was taking a shower. I've been framed! It wasn't me! Omigod! It was Ryu-chan wasn't it!" Shuichi turned back to Ryuichi. "It was you impersonating me in the bathroom. That's bananas! You're an alien too!"

Silence followed Shuichi's outburst.

"Mmmph," Kazuya said, trying to stifle a laugh.

"What?" said Shuichi in a small voice.

"Mmmph."

"What?"

"Mmmph… HAHAHAHA! That's that most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!" Kazuya said as he burst out laughing.

"But it wasn't me I swear."

"That wasn't what I was going to tell Ryuichi."

"Oh? Oh." Shuichi realised what was about to be divulged.

"Then what was it?" demanded Ryuichi. Somehow he had been left out of the joke and couldn't figure out what was going on.

"I caught Shuichi dancing and singing to Utada Hikaru in the living room today," Kazuya replied.

"Shu-chan you like Utada too!" exclaimed Ryuichi, who was more than happy.

"Shuichi just groaned and put his head down on the table.

* * *

"So, why exactly are you calling?" asked Hiro. Shuichi phoned him after his particularly embarrassing ordeal. As soon as he made sure in fact it was Hiro on the phone, not an alien, he proceeded to groan and make other such noises for about three minutes.

"Because. I utterly mortified myself today after I left the studio," replied Shuichi who was currently wrapped in a blanket inside his closet corner. He has locked the door to his room for good measure.

"What happened?"

"I died," was Shuichi's answer and in all honesty a little part of him did die. He even cried a little. Okay, so he cried quite a bit. For half an hour.

"What happened?" Hiro tried again in the same monotonous tone of voice.

"You know how I like Utada, right?"

"Yep," Hiro didn't know where this was going, but it didn't look good in Shuichi's favour.

"Well, I turned on her CD and Kazuya walked in. You know, the cute one."

"Oh," Hiro winced on the other side of the phone. If Shuichi was dancing this would be bad. "You weren't dancing were you?"

"Only a little."

Hiro found his most best-friendly voice and spoke, "Oh well, I'm sure it'll be fine. He probably thought it was… cute." He winced at this lie. Well, not exactly a lie because Shuichi was cute when he danced – in a very feminine way. And feminine, though cute, is not the best when you are trying to impress someone. Plus, watching Shuichi dance was a very… enlightening experience.

"He laughed at me."

"…"

"Hiro, get me out of this existential funk! Let's go drinking!"

"Nah, told Ayaka I wouldn't drink on weeknights," Hiro said nonchalantly.

"Did you just say existential?" this came from a voice outside of the closet.

"Gotta go," Shuichi mumbled and hung up the phone. Slowly he opened the door – just a smidge- and saw Kazuya standing of him with his infamous straightened coat hanger.

"Does that surprise you?" said Shuichi meekly.

"After what happened today? Yes," Kazuya said very sarcastically. Shuichi got up and tackled Kazuya to the bed. Shuichi immediately recognised their closeness, and more importantly their delicate positioning. Shuichi was lying on top of Kazuya. Kazuya, however, was oblivious.

Timing was of the utmost importance to Shuichi, if he wanted things to go well. He looked down into Kazuya's eyes for just long enough to make Kazuya think. Then, with just the right amount of swing in his hips, Shuichi strutted out of the room.

For this Kazuya was glad. It was now Kazuya's turn to get up and run to the bathroom.

* * *

**There it is! Hope you liked it. More will happen in the next chapter which os already partialy written by the way. Review!**

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	7. If I Were Gay

A/N: I am so sorry. It's been over two months and I haven't reviewed. (this is also the second time I've typed this... damned computer) I'm also sorry it's so short, but hopefully we'll have the 8th chapter up quicker than this one. That being said, I'd like to thank everyone for the reviews. Not to sound cliché, but it makes us really happy to see them. BTW: how do you think the story is going to go? We have it planned out, but we're just a bit curious to know what you think. And don't worry, the plot salad will be shaken up a bit after this chapter. (sorry for the inappropriate use of a horrible metaphor) ENJOY!

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In Spite Of It All

If I Were Gay

_"If I were gay, I would give you my heart_

_And if I were gay, you'd be my work of art_

_And if I were gay we would swim in romance_

_But I'm not gay, so get your hand out of my pants"_

_-If I Were Gay, Stephen Lynch_

* * *

The next day Shuichi came into the kitchen to find Ryuichi just about to leave.

"Where are you going?" Shuichi asked.

"I have to go to Kyoto for a few days," said Ryuichi.

"Oh, why?" questioned Shuichi.

"I have a private performance to do," Ryuichi said with a wink.

"A private performance! I'm so jealous!" yelled Shuichi. "What about Kazuya?" Shuichi asked with the innocence of a three-year-old. Kazuya was presently sleeping.

"He's going to stay here. I don't need a double for this gig," replied Ryuichi. He grinned at his ingenious plan.

Shuichi was just heading out the door when Kazuya woke up.

"Where are you going?" Kazuya mumbled as he rubbed sleep out of his eyes.

"To work. Some of us actually have proper jobs," Shuichi replied.

"I have a proper job… sometimes," Kazuya said sleepily as Shuichi shut the door behind him.

Shuichi bounded into the studio to find Hiro already set up.

"Hey!" Hiro called.

"Yo!" Shuichi replied. "Where's K?"

"Not here yet. I think he went to go talk to Tohma or something."

Shuichi's smile faltered slightly. "So, how come you're not at home? I thought Ayaka was pregnant?" asked Shuichi who was secretly hoping that his change in topic wasn't too obvious.

"Would be but I want to finish off the guitar tracks for the album before I take some time off of work."

Suguru nonchalantly strolled in the door just as that sentence ended. "Hey!" he called.

"Hi!" Shuichi and Hiro said in unison.

"Shall we get started?" Hiro asked.

* * *

"So, what's going on?" Tohma demanded.

K looked at Tohma. He seemed to be a little distressed. "Well, they're working on finishing up the rest of the album before talking a little time off," replied K.

"Has Shuichi moved into his own place?"

"Yeah, I think so. He hasn't really said a lot but I believe Ryuichi and Kazuya are there too," said K.

"Okay, you can go now," Tohma said with a devious smile. "Make sure they get this album done."

* * *

When Shuichi was finally done he decided to go to the super market. As he walked by an electronics store he saw a group of girls gathered around watching his latest interview. They were all squealing and giggling. _No wonder I'm gay, _he thought to himself. He couldn't thank the gods enough for sunglasses and hats.

Shuichi picked up some microwave dinners quickly and headed home. He couldn't wait for his first day home alone with Kazuya. When he arrived he found Kazuya in the kitchen.

"Hey, what's up?" Shuichi asked.

"Huh? Oh, hey! I'm just cooking dinner," said Kazuya brightly.

"Oh, well, then I'll just put this stuff in the freezer and help you out," offered Shuichi as he got some vegetables and started cutting. "I didn't know you could cook."

"I actually just pretend I can. I'm really quite bad at it," Kazuya replied.

"You can't be worse than me. I was on this TV show once…" Shuichi's voice kind of trailed off after that.

"Oh yeah, me and Ryuichi watched that one together. I think we have it on tape. That was priceless!" Kazuya was laughing pretty hard at the memory. Shuichi, on the other hand, was busy trying not to be mortified. And also, trying not to think about Yuki, which was surprisingly easy.

Kazuya was stirring a… well, something, in a sauce pan that didn't look exactly like the picture. It did look eatable though, considering it wasn't on fire… yet. _Knock on wood, _he thought to himself.

Shuichi was absent-mindedly cutting up some carrots and nicked his finger. "Ouch!"

"What happened?"

"I cut my finger! Gah! It's bleeding! AH! I need a band-aid!" screamed Shuichi.

"Come here," called Kazuya. He turned his back to the counter and examined Shuichi's finger. "It should be okay, it's not very deep."

"Yeah, but it huuurts," whined Shuichi.

Kazuya sighed, "Would you like me to kiss it better?"

"Yes," said Shuichi in a quiet, juvenile voice.

Kazuya brought Shuichi's finger up to his mouth and kissed it. Shuichi took this chance to look Kazuya directly in the eyes. Kazuya stared back at him. Shuichi pulled his finger away as if it burned and then grabbed the back of Kazuya's head and pulled him into a kiss.

The kiss lasted about thirty seconds, but it seemed as though it lasted hours; days even. Shuichi was in heaven, so he ventured a little further and slipped his tongue gently into Kazuya's mouth. He didn't ever imagine being able to pull this off. Not in a million years, so he cherished it.

Shuichi pulled away gently and gazed at Kazuya. Kazuya on the other hand, looked away.

"I'm not gay," he said quietly and turned back to his cooking.

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A/N: Hope you liked it. Please review. 


	8. Hide and Seek

_A/N:_ Yay! We got another chapter up. From here on, the plot moves a bit quicker. Thank you to NaviKun, tishu, Nickole Riddle, and kuma-chan for reviewing! You're the reason this got posted so quickly. We'd definatly like some feedback on this chapter and some suggestions on little things that you'd like to see happen... besides hot gay sex... anyhoo, enjoy the story!**

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**In Spite Of It All**

Hide and Seek

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_Where are we? What the hell is going on?  
The dust has only just begun to fall,  
Crop circles in the carpet, sinking, feeling.  
Spin me round again and rub my eyes.  
This can't be happening._

_-Hide and Seek, Imogen Heap_

* * *

Ryuichi walked into his apartment. All the lights were off and it was very silent. He called out, "Honey I'm home! Oh, that's right I'm not married." Ryuichi giggled to himself as he remembered the line from _Batman Returns_.

Ryuichi wasn't expecting anyone to be home, so he was surprised when someone called out his name.

"What are you doing home?" he asked to his twin brother, Kazuya. "I thought you were at Shuichi's."

"I was," Kazuya said evasively.

"And then?"

"And then I left," Kazuya loved annoying his brother. Plus, he didn't particularly want to answer the awkward questions he knew were coming.

"Why?" Ryuichi asked as he walked into the kitchen to get some food.

"Because I needed some space."

"Oh, right, _space,_" Ryuichi knew what kind of things entailed "space". He rolled his eyes.

"Don't look at me like that."

"Well, if you ever want to elaborate, I'm here," Ryuichi added while chewing noisily on a carrot. He then took a bit out of his mouth and tried to feed it to Kumogoro.

"You're disgusting."

Some time later, Ryuichi got bored and announced that they would both go to Shuichi's apartment. After many arguments form Kazuya he got talked into going.

* * *

Shuichi couldn't help the overwhelming feeling that he had made a big mistake. He knew kissing Kazuya was not a particularly smart move, but he had too. He needed to. Plus, Kazuya didn't pull out of the kiss right away. Actually, Shuichi was the one who ended the kiss, so maybe there was hope?

Shuichi spent two days moping around his empty apartment. After a very awkward dinner Kazuya left and Shuichi was alone. He decided it was a good idea to play _Dead or Alive 4_ for the next couple of days. Stopping only to get a shower and eat… occasionally. Shuichi couldn't help but be glad for all of those microwave dinners he bought before Kazuya left.

Shuichi woke up the next morning to a knock on his bedroom door.

"Shuichi! You better not be naked or anything because if you are I'm coming in anyways!" came Ryuichi's voice from the other side of the door.

Shuichi had a split second to fathom how on earth Ryuichi got his apartment key before he jumped on him.

"Wake up!" Ryuichi yelled.

"I'm awake," mumbled Shuichi, who did not sound awake at all.

"Good," said Ryuichi. "Because I brought breakfast." Behind Ryuichi, Kazuya just rolled his eyes. At that second, Shuichi's heart stopped.

Shuichi followed them to the kitchen when he got his composure back. Kazuya was unpacking the cinnamon buns and pouring extra icing on them.

Ryuichi bounded over to Kazuya and tried to steal a cinnamon bun. Kazuya stopped him and rescued the food from his grasp.

Shuichi couldn't help but notice that even though they were twins, they were not at all the same. It wasn't really physical appearance, besides the eyes, because they were identical twins. Their personalities were almost completely opposite. Kazuya was the "strong and silent" type. Shuichi always had his head in the clouds and lived a fairly hedonistic life.

Shuichi snapped out of his thoughts and joined in on breakfast.

"Itadakimasu," the three of them chorused and then dug in.

Shuichi gave a quick look over towards Kazuya. Their breakfast went relatively quietly with Shuichi stealing private glances at Kazuya. After a couple minutes though, all talking ceased because Ryuichi could sense the tension between his two companions.

Kazuya, Shuichi noticed, was currently licking icing off of his fingers. Shuichi wished against wish that he was alone with Kazuya and a lot of extra icing, alas he was not. And even if he was, Kazuya wasn't gay. Shuichi pouted at the thought of this.

Afterwards, Shuichi went to go get a shower leaving the twins to wreak havoc in his apartment. He also was stalling for time. He didn't want to have the Talk.

A couple minutes after cleaning up Kazuya and Ryuichi went into the living room. Kazuya was staring at the wall. Ryuichi turned to his brother and asked him what was wrong.

"Nothing," was his only response.

"Well, what are you thinking about?" Ryuichi continued his interrogation hoping to find an answer.

"Nothing, seriously."

"Yeah whatever. Just look out, buddy. I have some pretty crazy ninja skills," said Ryuichi in a cheeky voice springing into a ninja position.

"Oh, you mean the ones that get your ass kicked by me all the time?" replied Kazuya, getting into his own ninja stance as the started to spar.

After a while Kazuya yelled, "KAMEHAMEHA!"

As Ryuichi was falling down matrix-style, he cried out, "Hey, that's not fair!" That's when they turned around to find a giggling Shuichi in nothing but a towel. He had heard them fighting from the shower and went to check it out.

Kazuya just blushed and got out of the room as quickly as possible.

"What's with him?" asked Ryuichi hoping to finally get some answers. Shuichi just shrugged and went to get changed.

Ryuichi went to find hid brother and see what the matter was. When he found Kazuya, he sat down beside him. "Spill," Ryuichi all but demanded.

"When you were gone, you know, you left Shuichi and I alone," Kazuya started. Ryuichi liked where this was going. "And he uh… well, you know… kissed me."

"YUSS!" cried Ryuichi in celebration but immediately put on a sombre face because his brother needed him to be serious.

"But, you know, I'm not gay. I like Shuichi enough; he's a fun guy to hang out with, if you can handle his spaz attacks. But I just don't like him in _that_ way," confessed Kazuya.

With that, Shuichi, who had been listening, burst into tears and stormed out of the house.

After they got over the initial shock and guilt, an unsettling awkwardness set in. You know the kind when you're in someone's house when you know you shouldn't be…

"Well, I guess it's back to our place," said Ryuichi.

"Yeah, I guess it is."

* * *

When Shuichi arrived at Hiro's house he was still a blubbering mess of tears and other such things. He told Hiro about his situation –or lack thereof- with Kazuya. All the while Shuichi was drinking a strawberry milkshake made by a slightly pregnant Ayaka. Shuichi was grateful to his friends for putting up with him, but was still a depressed heap of gay boy at the end of the day.

Ayaka invited Shuichi to stay the night, but decided morning sickness was not something he wanted to witness. He thanked the gods he was gay. So, Shuichi decided to go home. After dinner. And maybe some desert.

* * *

After the delicious meal, Shuichi was at home once again playing _Dead or Alive 4_. Alone. He did feel a bit better, but not much. After all he did get rejected –twice.

Shuichi paused his game and went to the kitchen to get his big tub of ice cream from the freezer. He decided that some serious face-stuffage was in order.

Just as he was about halfway through the tub and ready to explode, Kazuya walked in. Shuichi stopped with the spoon partway to his mouth, dripping with ice cream. Kazuya winced.

"Maybe you should put away the ice cream before you implode into your socks," suggested Kazuya, breaking the silence.

Shuichi had just put the ice cream away, wiped his face and was in the middle of pulling on a new, ice cream free, T-shirt when Kazuya said those dreaded four words, "We need to talk."

Shuichi fell over. "No, no I don't think we do. Everything is neato keen!"

"NO, I really think we do. You just ate half a tub of ice cream."

"So?"

"So. Nobody eats that much ice cream when everything is 'neato keen'," Kazuya retorted.

"Smartass."

"Anyways, I just came by to make sure you were alright. And to let you know that just because I'm not gay doesn't mean I don't care about you."

"Is that all?" Shuichi was surprised at how calm he sounded because inside he was screaming at Kazuya.

"No," _Great,_ thought Shuichi. Kazuya continued: "You know, my brother is bisexual… and we look the same so… you know…" Kazuya trailed off.

_You don't understand_, Shuichi thought to himself. But what he said was, "I think it's time for you to leave." He whispered this because he didn't trust his voice enough to speak any louder.

Kazuya left without a word. Once he left Shuichi burst into another bout of tears.

Outside Kazuya's heart sank. He could almost hear the tears rolling down Shuichi's cheeks. It needed to be done, didn't it? But if so, then why did it hurt so much?

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A/N: Hope you liked it! Please review, it means alot!

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	9. Don't Turn Around

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A/N: Thanks for the reviews from Lanku, Asenav, GreenEyedFloozy-BackInBusiness, and Lady-Ross. We are getting to a huge plot twist in this chapter, so it was alot of fun to write. It took barely any time at all. It's cuz we love you. :)_

_WARNING! There is actually slash in this chapter, you have been warned.

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**In Spite Of It All**

Don't Turn Around

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_Don't turn around__  
__Cause you're gonna see my heart breaking__  
__Don't turn around__  
__I don't want you seeing me cry__  
__Just walk away__  
__-Don't Turn Around - Ace Of Bace

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_

Shuichi woke up the next morning. He had eaten the rest of the ice cream, drank a mickey of whiskey and passed out on the couch. His hair was caked with ice cream and his mouth felt like a cat slept in it.

Shuichi got up and decided that he defiantly needed a shower. While in the shower he realised he had made a big mistake with Kazuya and there wasn't much he could do to remedy it. He had to approach the situation with finesse.

Shuichi got out of the shower feeling a lot cleaner and a little less hung over. Just as he was getting dressed he heard a knock at the door.

Shuichi stomped out of his room with a shirt in his hand. "Just a second," he called while putting on his shirt. Shuichi couldn't fathom why; if it was Ryuichi, which he assumed it was, he didn't use his key. This was also still a mystery to Shuichi.

Shuichi opened the door and gasped. "What- what do you want?" he stammered.

"I want to talk to you," said Yuki calmly.

"Well, I don't want to talk to you," said Shuichi, but he lost his nerve halfway through the sentence and let Yuki in anyways.

Shuichi sat heavily on the couch and stared at the blank TV. "What do you want?" Shuichi said in a flat voice.

"I want you to come home." Yuki stated in a business-like tone.

"I am home," said Shuichi plainly.

"You call this home?" scoffed Yuki. "This isn't home. Your home is with me. In my apartment. It's where you belong. You belong to me and with me."

Shuichi jumped off of the couch in a sudden rage. He turned and faced Yuki moving only a few inches from his face. "I belong to you? What? So now I'm a possession? I don't to you, with you or anywhere near you! I belong to myself. And how dare you waltz into _my_ home and make fun of it! This apartment affords me the privacy and respect I never got when I was with you. So, take your high-and-mighty attitude and _fuck off_!" screamed Shuichi.

He could feel a lump in his throat. He was about to cry, but for the end result of his rant he could not, no matter what, cry in front of Yuki. He was better than that. With a blazing fire behind his glare, he looked at Yuki. Nothing could have surprised him more the hurt look on Yuki's face.

"Well, I guess you've made up your mind then. I was just hoping I could change it for you," he said in a quiet voice. _It's just an act, _Shuichi thought to himself. _It's always been an act. _Shuichi stared at Yuki for a second longer than comfortable and looked away. Yuki took this chance to close the space between them, put his arm around Shuichi's waist and pulled him into a kiss.

Shuichi's shock almost instantly melted at the familiar feel of Yuki so near to him. Yuki's tongue slipped into his mouth and much to Shuichi's anger, he didn't protest. He slipped his arms around Yuki's neck in response.

Yuki pulled his lips away from Shuichi's and placed a hand gently on his chin. "Consider what I said," stated Yuki simply. Then he pecked Shuichi on the lips once more and left the apartment. With Yuki went part of Shuichi's dignity.

Shuichi stared at the closed door for a few minutes before breaking down.

"What the fuck!" he screamed. "I am such a weak, stupid idiot!" Shuichi collapsed where he was and broke into heavy sobs.

Shuichi was sitting in the kitchen later just about to pour himself a drink when he realised he probably shouldn't. It wasn't even happy hour. Hell, it wasn't even noon. _I'm going to turn into an alcoholic and die of an ulcer,_ thought Shuichi morbidly.

He put the bottle of whiskey down and went to his room. He grabbed a jacket, his keys, and some money then he left the apartment.

He started to walk in a seemingly aimless way, but deep in Shuichi's subconscious he knew exactly where he was going.

He arrived in the front of the doors that lead to Yuki's apartment building.

"What am I doing?" Shuichi said to himself.

"Hey brat," came a voice form behind him. Shuichi turned to see Yuki walking in from the parking lot. "Are you going to go in or not?"

"I- I came to get my stuff that I forgot back," Shuichi mumbled.

"Yeah, right. Come on," said Yuki forcefully and Shuichi trailed after him. If Shuichi had a tail it would be between his legs.

When the elevator reached the top floor, Yuki stepped out and pulled Shuichi by the shirt right after him.

"I missed you," Yuki whispered in Shuichi's ear.

"I came for my stuff," Shuichi said with a bit more confidence this time.

"You are not. If you wanted your stuff back, you would have come back a long time ago," Yuki said and planted a kiss on Shuichi's neck. Shuichi moaned slightly at the familiarity of the lips.

"I have to go," whispered Shuichi as Yuki continued the assault on Shuichi's neck. Little by little Yuki was pulling Shuichi into his apartment.

"You have nowhere to be but here," said Yuki possessively as he successfully closed the door behind them and pinned Shuichi to the nearest wall. He kissed Shuichi and let his hands roam around his body. Shuichi revelled in the touch and the kiss. He let his hand slide up Yuki's back, completely forgetting his protests.

Then Yuki pulled Shuichi into his bedroom. All the while Shuichi felt his resolve crumble and his last bit of dignity was left at the door.

They entered the room and Shuichi felt a sweet sense of safety wash over him. Yuki pushed him roughly to the bed and immediately started to remove his pants.

"Do we have to-," Shuichi tried to say before Yuki crawled on top of him and covered his lips with his own. Shuichi completely lost all confidence in his own anger and gave in to the desire he felt for the other man.

As Yuki pulled off Shuichi's clothes, he couldn't help but think that what he was doing was wrong. But every time he tried to protest more, it was silenced by a new touch or kiss.

Finally Yuki entered Shuichi. Shuichi gasped at the small twinge pf pain he felt. It hadn't been that long, had it?

Yuki caught the slight grimace of pain and smiled. "It wouldn't hurt if you were still with me," he said breathlessly.

Shuichi grimaced at the harsh words but chose not to respond. _Especially,_ he thought, _since he broke up with me._

Shuichi woke up about an hour later to a rough hand shaking him.

"Get up, brat. You need to leave," said Yuki.

"What?" asked Shuichi sleepily.

"You need to leave. Tohma is coming over," replied Yuki.

"Oh," said Shuichi sitting up. "Why do I have to leave?"

"Because Tohma won't want to see you," said Yuki, pulling on his pants.

"Yeah, well, Tohma is a dick head."

"Harsh words. You've been hanging out with Ryuichi and Kazuya too much."

"How did you know I've been hanging out with them?" asked Shuichi, who was beyond surprise.

"Tohma keeps track of all his musicians," Yuki replied easily with a casual smirk.

"You mean he's been spying on me? That guy's a bastard. First, he hog ties Ryuichi and now he's spying on me. That's not to mention the other crap he's pulled over the years. What a prick!" spat Shuichi vehemently.

"Oh, about that; that thing with Ryuichi was a game. Purely harmless… kind of. It just so happens that Ryuichi and Tohma had a thing going for a while and on that particular day Ryuichi decided to get cold feet about Mika. They were about to play a bondage game when Ryuichi let it slip and Tohma got mad. So, he hog tied him, gagged him and left. Tohma came to get me before I got home and walked in on Ryuichi. That's where you come in," explained Yuki, putting on his belt.

"But I saw driving Ryuichi's car," said Shuichi, who was blown away with all of this new information.

"Tohma and Ryuichi came in the same car – Ryuichi's car."

"Oh," said Shuichi. It seemed a little clearer now, but not any less bizarre. He still didn't know why he was leaving, though.

Shuichi quickly got dressed and was about to leave when he decided he had to say something. "Yuki," he said tentatively, trying to gain courage. "Yuki, this meant nothing. I still haven't forgiven you for what you did. I just got… weak," Shuichi mumbled. He felt very downcast and ashamed of himself.

Yuki grunted and replied, "You can't fool yourself Shuichi. Think about it."

Shuichi left and walked back to his own apartment. He decided he wouldn't even begin to address what he had done until he had a rather large drink in front of him.

He decided to try and figure out Tohma and Ryuichi's relationship. They were going to have sex that day. How many times had they had sex before? Is that why Ryuichi left for America? Was that why he and Kazuya had been living at his apartment?

Shuichi had so many questions left unanswered. He decided he would have to talk to Ryuichi soon. But first he had to try and confront himself.

Shuichi was almost at his apartment when he realised that Tohma and Ryuichi almost had sex in Yuki's bed.

"EWWWW!" Shuichi cried and did a little gross dance. That scared away a group of little, old ladies. He quickly ran to his apartment to get a shower. Again.

Following the shower, the last two – yes, two- of his microwave dinners, a cup of ramen and a large drink, he made up his way to Ryuichi's house. He needed answers to questions, even if they were none of his business. It distracted him from his own private life.

With sunglasses and a hat, he hopped on the subway. _The subway of truth_, he thought to himself. As he was standing there he noticed a rather large girl standing beside him. She was a little taller than him and quite a bit heftier. She was wearing a _very_ short skirt. Shuichi shuddered.

The fat girl kept on staring at him in a funny way. Shuichi knew what was about to happen. Good thing his was the next stop. He pressed the button and ran away with the fat girl trailing a ways behind him yelling "I love you Shuichi Shindou!" _God, that was creepy_, he thought to himself as he got her off of his trail.

The rest of the way was about a ten minute walk, so Shuichi had a little while to think about the events of the day in his head. Everything was so different now. He felt so weak, so used.

When he got to Ryuichi's apartment there were fat tears rolling down his cheeks, behind his sunglasses. He knocked on the door only to have Kazuya answer.

_Oh great_, Shuichi thought to himself, _not only am I an emotional wreck, but I have to deal with him_.

"What's wrong?" asked Kazuya immediately. Shuichi couldn't talk. There was big lump in his throat, so he just shook his head.

"Um… Ryuichi went out tonight, something about Tohma, but you can still come in if you want," Kazuya offered. Shuichi nodded and walked in.

"Do you want some tea?" Shuichi shook his head.

Suddenly, Shuichi burst out into body racking sobs. His knees gave out and he fell to the floor where he stood. Kazuya knelt beside him and enveloped Shuichi into a warm embrace. It broke his heart to see his friend this way.

Kazuya just kept on whispering comforting this, even though he had no clue what was wrong. He kissed him gently on the forehead. Shuichi seemed so broken. How could one day change a person so much?

With Shuichi pressed against him, crying, one question kept popping up in his head. If you really care about someone, should a trivial thing like gender get in the way?

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A/N: How did you like the chapter:D I told you we had fun writing it! Please review. It makes us smile and rainbow. Yes, we are able to rainbow, in case you were wondering._


	10. Come Away With Me

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A/N: Sorry for taking so long! I was SO busy with the fashion show! (I'm in fashion design class). And if you're wondering it went PERFECTLY! (I even sold a dress) But anyways, hope you like the chapter, and as always, any comments you have would be wonderful! ENJOY!

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**In Spite Of It All**

Come Away With Me

"_Come away with me and we'll kiss  
On a mountain top  
Come away with me  
And I'll never stop loving you"_

_-Come Away With Me, Norah Jones_

* * *

Shuichi woke up the next morning with a feeling of disorientation. He had no clue where he was or whose couch he was sleeping on. He rolled off the couch with a dull thud when he hit the floor.

Looking around he realized he was in Ryuichi's living room. _'Oh God,'_ he thought. _'What was Ryuichi doing with Tohma last night!'_

Kazuya woke up that morning to the sound of Shuichi ramming his head into the wall. "What the eff are you doing?" he asked.

"Oh," Shuichi said, bewildered. "I didn't realize you were awake."

"Yeah, actually, I have to do some signing for Ryuichi today."

"Cool."

"Tomorrow do you want to go out for dinner or something?" Kazuya asked innocently.

Shuichi blushed. "Umm… uh… yeahsurewhynot? Imeanitsnotlikewe'redatingoranythignsoitsnotabigdealright?"

"Is that a yes?"

"Yeah," Shuichi replied quickly.

"Good," Kazuya said with a genuine smile. "Well, I have to go soon so make sure to eat breakfast and please: take a shower. Okay?"

"Umm…. Yeah," mumbled Shuichi.

After a long shower, in which Shuichi tried to really get clean, he ate a bowl of cereal. His cereal of choice that particular morning was called _Raisin Bran_, and since it had the word 'bran' it was healthy.

Just as he was finishing his second bowl of cereal he heard a click in the lock.

"I'm home!" called Ryuichi.

"Where the hell have you been?" Shuichi didn't beat around the bush.

"Oh, Shuichi, where's Kazuya?" asked Ryuichi in a suspicious voice.

"He went to a signing. Your signing."

"Oh, right, I forgot. But Kazuya remembered," said Ryuichi.

"Uh-huh. Why don't you go to your own signings?"

"I just don't feel like it sometimes. I've been doing it for long time and I get bored, so I send Kazuya. Plus, I went drinking last night!" said Ryuichi in a slightly tired, ugh-I'm-so-hung-over voice.

"Oh well uh… cool. With Tohma?" Shuichi blurted out. Ryuichi just stared at him.

"Yeah, did Kazuya tell you?"

"Yep, did you sleep-," Shuichi decided to leave that sentence unfinished. It was safer that way.

"Oh, yeah, I slept over at Tohma's house. Mika was away somewhere with the baby," said Ryuichi.

"So, you and Tohma. Alone. Together," Shuichi said mostly to himself, but loud enough for Ryuichi to hear.

"Yeah, we were. Look, Shuichi, what are getting at?" asked Ryuichi.

"I – I wanted to know if you had sex with him," said Shuichi with a down cast look.

Ryuichi moved to sit at the table with Shuichi. "Well then. Yes. I did. But how did you know that I was sleeping with Tohma? Did Kazuya tell you?" Ryuichi questioned.

"No, no. Kazuya didn't tell me," Shuichi answered the question, but offered no more information.

"Well… who told you?"

"Umm… you know…"

"No I don't know."

"Yuki."

"What!" Ryuichi screamed. "Holy living fuck! That means that you and Yuki… you know," Ryuichi moved his hands together and wriggled his eyebrows in a suggestive manner.

Shuichi burst out in tears. "I'm so stupid!" he sobbed. Ryuichi gathered his friend into his arms and rocked him back and forth.

"It's okay little buddy. Everything's going to be fine," comforted Ryuichi.

"But I'm so weak! I can't even go a whole month without him," Shuichi wailed.

"Well, how about this: I help you get Kazuya?" Ryuichi suggested happily.

Shuichi stopped crying immediately, "You'd really do that for me?"

"Of course!" cheered Ryuichi, who was silently congratulating himself on his quick change of topic.

"Thank you Ryu-chan!" squealed Shuichi as he flung himself at Ryuichi. Ryuichi smiled.

* * *

Kazuya looked down at the small girl in front of him. She couldn't older than ten, he thought. She handed him a shaking photo which he graciously took while cleverly brushing his hand up against hers in the process. He flashed an award winning smile. '_Who says Ryuichi Sakuma can't be a ladies man?' _he thought to himself as the girl blushed profusely.

Through all the years Kazuya had never actually paid much mind to the age variation. There were always girls of all ages; from eight to eighty. Ryuichi, of course rarely dated, but that didn't stop him form having a few of the more attractive girls over for the night.

"Careful, someone is going to think you're a pedophile if you keep that up," said Tohma, leaning towards Kazuya.

"You're lucky she didn't hear that," whispered Kazuya back.

"Well, at least she's the last one for now anyways. We're gonna start the interview in ten minutes."

"Great," said Kazuya sarcastically.

"So, did you have fin last night?" whispered Tohma. Kazuya had no idea what he was talking about.

"Sure, did you?"

"Of course. Your brother is fun. He likes his games, doesn't he?" commented Tohma.

"What ever d you mean?" Kazuya asked innocently.

"Well, this time I didn't have to leave him tied to a bed. Although, I think he liked it…" Tohma purred.

"You tied my brother up! Ah, geez, I could have gone forever without knowing that," Kazuya groaned.

"Well," Tohma shrugged. "You asked." Kazuya shook his head in disgust.

"How is Shuichi? That poor boy is having a hard time isn't he?" said Tohma scathingly.

"He's fine. A little upset, but he'll be okay," said Kazuya in a quiet voice.

"Yes, he had a rough day yesterday, I heard."

"Yes, he did," Kazuya said this through clenched teeth. He wasn't sure what Tohma was alluding to, and he probably didn't want to know.

"Yes. Yuki was quite hard on him yesterday," Tohma said with false concern. "I think, though, Shuichi was harder on himself."

"He went to see Yuki?" questioned Kazuya. He didn't want to sound concerned, so he tried to sound curios, but laid back.

"Yeah, I guess they missed each other," Tohma sighed in a silly and exaggerated way. "Poor Shuichi got quite hard form Yuki. I guess Shuichi hasn't found anyone new to give it to him."

"You're an asshole, you know that?" stated Kazuya. "Why do you even care? Why don't you just stay with Yuki?"

"I have a wife, silly boy. I also like to keep track of my musician's lives. And if you didn't look so much like Ryuichi and weren't his brother, I would probably fire you," said Tohma flatly.

"Um, first: I work for my brother, not you. Second: I work for my brother _because_ I look like him. If I didn't look like him and wasn't his brother, I'd fire me too. And besides, Ryuichi just uses you and deep down I think you know that," Kazuya pointed out. It was a little harsh, but if Tohma couldn't handle it, who could?

"Don't fuck with me, you pathetic little tag-along. It's best for the safety of both you and your brother," threatened Tohma, effectively ending the conversation. Anyone watching would have thought it was a pleasant chat between friends.

Kazuya got home eight hours after he had left that morning. The whole interview took two hours, but the drive was quite long.

Kazuya looked in the living room and found Ryuichi passed out on the couch with his friend Captain Morgan.

"Jesus," Kazuya whispered out loud. "Does he do anything but drink?"

He picked up the bottle from the table and brought them to the kitchen. The clock told him it was only 10:15. He couldn't believe his brother had passed out already. He found a second bottle of whiskey that was already empty. That explained a little bit more. Maybe he had company?

Kazuya continued to his bedroom. He had had a long day and really needed to sleep. He could shower in the morning.

He walked into his room and found Shuichi asleep on his bed. He could see a tear still wet on his cheek. Shuichi had again been crying over what had happened. Kazuya sighed as he took off his clothes and climbed into some pyjamas. Kazuya tried not to touch Shuichi, but he couldn't get enough room not to. Kazuya was just drifting off to sleep when Shuichi spoke. His speech was a bit slurred.

"Kazuya?"

"Yeah?"

"Am I hogging the bed?"

"No, it's fine."

"Alright. How did it go?"

"Oh, um, okay."

"Oh?"

Only one word was needed to end the conversation: "Tohma."

* * *

It was about 2:30 in the afternoon when Ryuichi and Shuichi arrived at Shuichi's apartment for beautification. They had just finished lunch and The Date started at 4:00.

After Shuichi got a shower the pre-game nerves began to settle in. He was shaking like a wet chiwawa in winter. Ryuichi on the other hand was jumping for excitement; he just couldn't wait to find the perfect outfit for Shuichi to wear.

Ryuichi had also convinced Shuichi to let him do his hair. Shuichi screamed like a little girl with a skinned knee when he saw it.

"What did you do to it!" he yelled.

"Is it that bad?" Ryuichi asked worriedly.

"NO! It's fabulous! What did you do to it?"

"Oh, you know" Ryuichi evaded the question. "A bit of this and that."

At about 3:50 Shuichi had finally put on an outfit, gone over his "dating etiquette" with Ryuichi and found matching socks, all _without_ ruining his hair. Kazuya showed up and the gay-fest commenced.

With a shaky hand, Shuichi opened the door. Kazuya didn't look much better that Shuichi. They were both a bundle of nerves.

The pair decided to go shopping for a bit until they got hungry and then dinner. After that they might go see a movie of go for a few drinks.

While shopping Shuichi bought a stuffed alien for Kazuya, which raised a lot of questions. All of which were carefully avoided.

To return the favour, Kazuya bought Shuichi an Utada Hikaru CD, which earned him a punch to the arm.

"Ow, that hurt!" Kazuya complained.

"Baby!" Shuichi got punched.

"AH! OWEE!"

"Oh, come on, it couldn't have hurt _that_ much! What are you, ga…y?... _Shit,_" Kazuya cussed under his breath.

"Um… actually, in case you haven't noticed…" Shuichi left the sentence unfinished. It was his turn to make Kazuya look stupid, not the other way around.

"Right," Kazuya said awkwardly. Then there was the obligatory silence, which was uncomfortable.

"At least _that_ wasn't weird," Shuichi said. "I'm hungry, let's boogie."

"Groovy."

After they finished eating dinner and had the cliché payment argument ensued, (No, no I got it, it's okay) they decided it was time for some alcohol. Shuichi concluded, not out loud of course, that it would be good if he got Kazuya highly inebriated. That way it would be easier to get in his pants.

After six beers, a vodka paralyzer, and a shot of whiskey, Kazuya was having a great time. He only hoped he could make it home after his date.

"Kazuya, are you drunk?" Shuichi slurred, leaning on Kazuya.

"I'm too drunk to be drunk… wait, does that even make sense?" Kazuya replied in an equally drunk voice.

"Maybe we should go back home… to my place," Shuichi suggested as he put his hand on Kazuya's leg.

"Are you trying to seduce me?" Kazuya asked.

"I might be," Shuichi replied in a sly voice and giggled.

"It might be working," Kazuya giggled. They paid the bill, with a generous tip, and caught a taxi home.

Kazuya felt slightly more sober in the fresh air and decided that he should probably go to his own house. The ride to Shuichi's house was quiet, punctuated only by Shuichi giggling. Shuichi tumbled out of the taxi and tottered off to the apartment building.

"Just wait for me," Kazuya said and trotted off after him. "Shuichi, I had a lot of fun tonight."

"Me too!" cheered Shuichi.

"Well, we should do it again sometime," Kazuya replied. Shuichi smiled slightly, only showing only some of the emotions inside of him.

"Well, goodnight Kazuya."

"Goodnight Shuichi," Kazuya replied and started to head back to the taxi. He hesitated about five feet from Shuichi and turned back. Shuichi gave him a quizzical look. Kazuya leaned in and gently kissed Shuichi on the lips.

"Goodnight," Kazuya said. He kissed Shuichi on the cheek one last time and went to the taxi.

* * *

A/N: Finally some action! Review because we love you! 


	11. You Look So Fine

**A/N: **Oh my god. That took a while. So sorry, and it's not very long either. Isn't that a kick in the pants? Thanks to ODSTgirl058, Yaminoko, Beevosteethos, The Great White Emu (awesome screen name btw), kuma-chan, tishu, Rikotsu-sama, Navikun, PunkWoldIncarnate, and MaryK for the reviews. And thanks for your patience; university is a bitch. Drum roll please...**

* * *

**

**In Spite Of It All**

You Look So Fine

"_I'm open wide  
I want to take you home  
We're wasting time  
You're the only one for me  
You look so fine"_

-Garbage, You Look So Fine

* * *

A couple days after the cab episode Shuichi found himself at Ryuichi's house. They were looking for something to do. Boredom consumed them.

"Hey," Ryuichi said to Shuichi. "Wanna play some video games?"

"Um… depends, which ones haven't we beaten already?" Shuichi replied, feeling a little pathetic.

"Probably we need to buy a few more."

"Ouch."

So, they ventured down to the electronics store merrily. With sunglasses and baseball hats of course, can't forget those. By the time they got there Ryuichi was practically buzzing with excitement. Shuichi could tell that this was going to lead them into trouble already.

"I want that one!!!!," Ryuichi said as he tried to grab it out of a little boys' hands. Alas, the little boy had the upper hand in height (or lack thereof) and ducked just in time.

"No, I want it," the little boy said in a whiney voice.

"I'll fight you for it," Ryuichi had a seriousness in his voice that made Shuichi nervous. This had been going on for about five minutes, Shuichi decided to stay out of it. That was until Ryuichi said he wanted to fight a little kid for a video game.

"Why don't we just go to a different store?" Shuichi suggested.

"No. I'm here and I want this VIDEO GAME!" Ryuichi was basically screaming at the top of his lungs by this point.

"Excuse me, sir. We're going to have to ask you to leave." Ryuichi turned around only to become face to face with a very stern looking man with a name tag. People with name tags are always important. Especially when it says 'manager', or 'security', that's when you listen to them.

"But, but…" Ryuichi began.

"I'm sorry, but you are disturbing the other customers… deeply."

"But, I'm your number one customer, Sakuma Ryuichi." To say that Shuichi was ashamed and a bit embarrassed would not come close to what he was feeling. "And this is my friend Shindou Shuichi."

Shuichi groaned. He had been trying to remain anonymous.

"Oh, my mistake. I'm so sorry Mr. Sakuma," the manager said. "Would you be so kind as to take a picture with me?"

"Yeah, no problem. Shuichi, come closer so the camera can see you."

About half an hour later, they left the store with a couple of t-shirts and the video game, compliments of the store. The shirts were a special thanks for the pictures –which would probably appear in the next issue of every tabloid magazine.

A week later and things still hadn't died down. Shuichi guessed right about the pictures, so naturally the journalists came asking for a recommendation on the hottest video games. They locked themselves in the apartment and didn't plan on leaving soon.

"This is almost worse than that time with Yuki," said Shuichi. "Plus, we're almost out of food."

"Suck it up you baby!" Ryuichi glanced quickly at Shuichi, sticking his tongue out before turning back to his video game.

"When is Kazuya coming back?"

"Why? You miss him already?" Ryuichi teased.

"Shut it."

"No."

"You wanna go?"

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, I think you heard me."

Ryuichi took off his sweater and bounced around on the balls of his feet. However, in mid-bounce, Shuichi ran full force into him with an outrageous headbutt. If Shuichi wasn't playing fair, Ryuichi wouldn't either. He found the nearest piece of skin to him mouth and bit. Pretty soon, the fight turned more violent than initially intended. It was probably due to the fact that they had been locked up in an apartment together for a week.

Rolling around on the ground, yelling and name-calling attracted a lot of attention from the media, who was now practically breaking down the door.

"Stop. I give. Uncle. Mercy," said Shuichi gasping for air. "That got out of hand, didn't it?"

"Yeah, uh-huh. Yes. Yes, it did."

"This sucks. I'm going to bed."

Kazuya walked in the door and hung up his jacket. He had been bombarded by reporters asking about the Shindou/Sakuma relationship. He refused to comment, though because he had no clue what his brother and Shuichi had gotten up to.

A light came from the living room and Kazuya followed it only to find Ryuichi attached to the TV in the exact position he left him.

"Where's Shuichi?"

"Room."

Kazuya went to his room and flashed in the light only to see Shuichi curled up on the bed. He immediately shut the light back off.

"Sorry." Shuichi didn't even move. Far too tired to care, Kazuya stripped down to his boxers and climbed in next to Shuichi. He shifted around for a bit under the covers until he finally found a comfortable position. He had just begun to drift off when Shuichi spoke.

"Kazuya, are you asleep?"

"I was."

"Sorry. How was your week? Was Tohma a bastard?"

"No, he wasn't even there. How was your week?"

"Oh god. We got mobbed my people at the electronics store."

"You guys are idiots. Did you even wear a hat? Tell me you wore a hat."

"We wore hats and sunglasses, but Ryuichi started a fight with this kid and…" Kazuya burst out laughing. "It's not funny. We had to take pictures with them so we didn't get kicked out. We did the games for free though. And complimentary t-shirts. Look, I'm wearing it right now."

Kazuya shook his head, but snuggled in closer to Shuichi.

"Kazuya?"

"Yeah?" Kazuya looked at Shuichi. Shuichi held his gaze for a while before leaning in and joining their lips together.

Initially, the kiss shocked Kazuya, but as the shock died down he rode the waves of pleasure that flowed through the kiss and pressed for more.

Shuichi took the encouragement and slipped an arm around eased an arm around Kazuya's neck, pulling him closer.

Kazuya, however, had a different idea in mind. He wrapped his hands around Shuichi's waist and drew him over so that he was sitting on Kazuya's lap. Shuichi deepened the kiss even more and they both got lost in sensation.

Kazuya felt a rush of excitement when Shuichi's tongue touched his. He didn't care if Shuichi was a guy, he liked him anyway. Shuichi suddenly pulled away from their kiss and readjusted himself so that he was straddling Kazuya and continued on. He kissed Kazuya deeply before kissing the crook of his neck. He proceeded down his neck ad slowly to his collarbone and chest.

Kazuya was blind with excitement while Shuichi fulfilled his every need. Meanwhile, Shuichi kissed his chest and teased his nipples. He continued down his stomach.

"Stop," Kazuya said as Shuichi reached his boxers. "I'm sorry. I'm not ready for this."

Shuichi slid up Kazuya's body and cuddled close to him. He could still feel Kazuya's erection pressing into his thigh and wished that Kazuya would let him go further.

"It's okay. I understand; it's different with a guy." Shuichi kissed Kazuya briefly on the lips then rolled off of him. Kazuya slid an arm around Shuichi and pulled him so his head was on Kazuya's shoulder.

They smiled at each other and Shuichi said: "Go to sleep."

Kazuya drifted off into sleep and Shuichi watched him for a while and did the same.

Ryuichi opened his eyes and glanced around the dark living room. He noticed that Shuichi wasn't there and got up to look for him. He checked the kitchen and bathroom before he got a sinister idea and looked inside Kazuya's room. He opened the door and smiled at what he saw. Closing the door, he padded down the hallway into his room feeling that things seemed right.

* * *

**A/N:** Was it okay? Was it sexy? Haha! Okay, sorry. Please reply or insert threat here. Thanks you crazy mofo's! 


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